Before the start of his senior season, West Torrance wrestler Chris Lee traveled to the University of Iowa to take part in a two-week clinic. He stayed on campus, bunked with Iowa wrestlers and trained harder than he ever had.

He hoped, at the least, to improve his skills on the mat. But the journey helped him overcome his greatest fear and become a leader for the Warriors.

Those Warriors, and the rest of their Bay League peers, are competing in the CIF Southern Section Central Division Individual Wrestling Championships that started Friday and continue today at Canyon Springs High School.

“It was probably the greatest thing I’ve ever done, wrestling-wise,” said Lee, who went with teammates Yoshi Funakoshi and Barrett Hamilton. “It was life-changing. It really opened my eyes.”

Lee, who wrestled this season at 120 pounds, said training with some of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country taught him that high school wrestlers aren’t so tough.

He learned not to psyche himself out before his matches even started, a flaw he said hindered his previous performances.

“I went to learn technique. But I was also a head case and this really helped me,” Lee said. “I used to worry about if a guy was older or a little bigger. I would just beat myself.”

And he did learn his better technique in that torturous, wrestling-like manner you can only get from a camp.

“We worked so hard, I’ve never been worked so hard in my life,” Lee said. “If I can work this hard for 14 days, I can go all out on the mat for six minutes.”

The training has helped Lee to a 34-7 record. The mental lessons learned helped him overcome negative thinking.

Earlier in the season, Lee took part in the Five-Counties Tournament, one of the biggest and toughest wrestling tournaments in the state.

Wrestling in a 128-man bracket, Lee said he was fighting pre-match jitters before his first match. And when he stepped on the mat, he was still distracted by the magnitude of the event and found himself down, 5-0.

Lee rallied for a 9-8 win, drawing upon what he had been through at the Iowa camp.

“I knew that if I could handle Iowa, I could go another minute,” Lee said.

West coach Brian Notch, who found the camp for Lee and his teammates, said the way Lee approaches wrestling has changed since the summer.

“I’ve noticed that the way he reacts to his wins and losses is different,” Notch said. “Even the way he prepares is different. The camp definitely sent him over the edge this year.”

Lee didn’t start wrestling until he joined an after-school program, run by Notch at West, as an eighth grader. He eventually talked classmate and future teammate Fahim Jan into joining and the two have become senior leaders for the Warriors.

Lee, who is a triplet with sisters Rebecca and Savanna (both cheerleaders), said he has always been a bit rambunctious and active.

Wrestling appealed to him more than baseball, football and basketball, sports he played as a youngster. But it’s the idea of a 1-on-1 encounter that made him choose wrestling.

“It’s just you and (your opponent) on the mat,” Lee said. “In baseball, I got yelled at for digging holes when the game was boring. I was too aggressive for basketball and always fouled out. And in football, I didn’t like getting yelled at when the team lost.”

Lee said his only goal this season was to wrestle at state until Notch told him 100 wins was in sight. Lee accomplished that goal

The inspiring thing about that achievement is that Lee earned that win at West in the finals of the Bay League Championships Feb.4.

Notch made an announcement to the crowd, but was nearly late in doing so.

“It was at home, which was cool,” Notch said. “But I had forgotten about it. When I noticed he was wrestling, I had to run to the microphone to announce it.”

The win qualified Lee to this weekend’s event. Lee said he’s been eager, but not nervous, waiting for it to begin.

Notch likes Lee’s chances of placing in the top five because only one person who placed in the top five a year ago returns. That wrestler is defending tournament champ and top seed Taylor Hall of Canyon Springs.

Lee is seeded No.4 and won his first two bouts Friday before losing – 7-5 in overtime – to Dmitrie Smith of Beaumont in his quarterfinal.

Lee still can finish as high as third in his division if he can avoid a second loss today.

The Pioneer League athletes travel to Roosevelt High School in Corona to take part in the Inland Division Championships. The top five in each weight division qualify for the CIF-SS Masters – the state qualifying meet – on Feb. 24-25.

Wrestlers from Carson and San Pedro will be at Bell High School participating at the L.A. City Section Region 1 Championships today. The top five in each division move on to next week’s City Championships.